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Originally Posted by John Robertson
A few random thoughts...
If this play is to be ruled a foul ball, then we obviously have no interference on a potential steal situation because runners can't attempt a steal on a foul ball.
One problem I see in ruling this a foul ball instead of a swing and a miss is that the batter may have saved himself/herself from a strikeout by hitting the ball (albeit inadvertently) on the backswing. The pitcher gets cheated out of a strikeout if there were already two strikes on the batter.
Maybe we have an illegally batted ball here? The batter has, in effect, swung twice at the pitch.
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I agree with John on the foul ball issue. If you rule it a foul ball, by the wording of the rule, this could be construed as negating a third strike on a missed swing.
I don't think that is what most of us would rule, but that's what it says.